


Who knew it would be so hard to get legs?

by Morpheel



Category: Homestuck
Genre: EquiTav, Fluff, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, GamTav - Freeform, GamTav Pale, M/M, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Towels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-30
Updated: 2016-11-30
Packaged: 2018-09-03 10:15:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8708572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morpheel/pseuds/Morpheel
Summary: Gamzee asks Equius to build his moirail some legs, but who would have guessed that would turn into so much more than a simple command?A commission from the wonderful Instagram user princelyblood, who asked for some good old fashioned Equius/Tavros!





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was actually a gift for my friend, however I would like everyone to know I am offering writing commissions! I accept any ship, any scenario, and any kink you'd like! It's 5$ per thousand word, or 15$ for every 5 thousandth word. Contact me through DM here, or on Instagram @vivaciiousfanatic .

It just never seemed to be enough. No matter what he did, how many reinforcements he added onto the plating of his robots, none of them ever poised a challenge for Equius. One punch could not just dent the metal of his death machines, but ultimately scramble the insides of its circuitry from the pressure of his punch. Even if he added a softer padding to prevent the shock wave, even if he double melded the metal, it all crumbled before him with the force of his attacks.

 It made proper sparring to be quite the challenge. When his attempts at archery no doubt failed too, it had become almost a pastime to relieve the frustration out onto some unfortunate metal contraption. Of course the moments between actually sparring with the bots and the time spent constructing them was extremely skewed. He spent hours toiling away on just one robot, having to locate, and not crush, the delicately small parts that held them together.

 “Fiddlesticks.” he sighed, noting that he gripped one of the bolts too hard. A fingerprint shaped dent was now making the piece unusual, so into the scrap bin it went. He made a note that he would have to burn it down and refine it into usable metal again, since the top of the bin was nearly overflowing. He was just about to grab another one, when Aurthour was interrupting him with a pat on his back.

“Hm?” he hummed, before his lusus was motioning towards the door with a swoop of his hand. “A visitor? If it is the ceruleanblood next door, tell her that I will not be making any adjustments onto her arm until I am finished with my current project.”

When Aurthour shook his head again, Equius rose up with a sigh, stretching out his arms. He was a bit stiff from having to restrict his motions to handle the little screws and bits of his projects. He began to make his way through his hive towards the front door, before glancing through the peephole to see just who it was that was interrupting his important duties.

The first thing that greeted him was the lazy smile of Gamzee Makara, the troll waiting languidly with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his polka dot pants. He appeared to be glancing down to talk, before his hand moved to ruffle the fluffy mohawk of a second troll that was much too short to be in the line of sight of the peephole.

Already Equius could feel his nerves kicking up, a bead of sweat dripping down his brow as he reached forward and attempted to twist the doorknob of his hive. Of course it seemed that no matter how he moved and attempted to grasp the door, his sweaty palms just coursed right over the smooth metal.

“Dang nabbit.” he muttered, before finally growing frustrated with all of this nonsense. He couldn’t keep the highblood waiting much longer! He gripped the handle just a bit too hard in his haste, before swearing under his breath as it dented and crushed the metal before he even knew what happened.

At least it made it grippable again, at the cost of having to get it replaced. Again. This time he honestly had half of a mind to leave it as it was and not even bothering. He opened up the door, feeling his vascular pump beating so hard in his chest as he nodded towards Gamzee...before noticing the trashblood that was sitting next to him.

“Hi, Equius!” Tavros greeted the blueblood, smiling in a shy manner that was befitting someone so low as him. He had to rein his facial expressions in, as to not show the distaste of having the second lowest blood color in his presence.

“What’s up, motherfucker.” greeted Gamzee, offering Equius a wave as he leaned his lanky arm against Tavros’s horn in a casual manner. “You busy at all, gettin’ all up to whipping those miracles about with your robo fighters?” He asked, causing a nervous noise to leave the blueblood. “Y-Yes highblood, but I was thinking I could take my break now, if you needed something.”

Gamzee’s response was a positive one, and his lips curled up into a sharp grin as he slapped his hand down onto Equius’s sweaty shoulders. “Bitchtits! Then how bout you let a motherfucker and his pale bro in?”

Equius didn’t even have to say anything in response, following the command immediately as he stepped back and motioned towards the inside of his hive. “M-Maybe we should retreat towards the communal area, as my workshop is a tad bit of a mess.”

“Sounds hella to me, bro.” Gamzee drawled out, grabbing the handles of Tavros’s wheelchair as he began to follow Equius through the halls of his hive. While Tavros looked a bit uncomfortable about Equius’s choice of decorations, he chose not to mention it while Gamzee hummed a little tune as they walked.

Finally, Equius was opening the door and stepping into a rather well lit and comfortable looking room, wiping off his face with the bottom of his tank top while Gamzee rolled into the room. “Please...make yourself at home.”

Makara looked around through hazy and unfocused eyes, before parking Tavros next to a couch and collapsing over onto it. “Sweeeet, I was getting my ponder on if you even owned a soft surface at all.” He said, resting his sandy shoes onto the side of the blue fabric.

Equius had a complaint lodged in his throat, before only sweating more when he knew he couldn’t talk back to Gamzee. He was higher than him- his furniture was nothing compared to Gamzee’s authority. “Yes...well, as much as I enjoy being in your company, purpleblood. What brings you to my hive with your….Moirail.”

He added a bit of a drop to his tone when he mentioned the word moirail, his head tilting in Tavros’s direction. How a mudblood like him managed to acquire a highblood in his quadrants was far beyond him- but it was not in his place to complain or question Gamzee. He could only be glad that Tavros knew to avert his nervous gaze when he looked at the other.

“Oh, shit, yeah!” It was like a light went off in Gamzee’s head, before he was smiling over at Tavros and reaching his hand over to give the nervous troll a small pap. Equius could feel the embarrassment crawling down his spine- such an intimate gesture in front of him. Did he have no shame?

“So I was brainstorming with Tav here about what to motherfuckin do about his jacked up walking sticks, right? A brother can’t go about life sitting in a wheelchair! So we got to thinkin’, wait, our main bro Equius can be working MOTHERFUCKIN’ MIRACLES with robots. Even makin’ spiderbitch this wicked ass arm! So we thought, like, what if he could make legs too?”

Equius was listening to Gamzee’s explanation, already beginning to connect two and two about just what the pair came here to solicit him for. He was about to open his mouth, before Tavros was cutting him off, seeming a bit nervous still. “Wait, uhm. It was mainly Gamzee’s idea, before you, uh, speak next. I’m totally cool just...sitting.”

“Nah, Tavbro! Don’t be getting nonsense spewing from your lips here, you’ve always told me how badly you wanna get your walk on again when we were jamming out in your pile.” Gamzee replied, before the two were entering a bit of a stalemate.

“It’s just...he works so hard on, uh, making his robots. I don’t want to bother him is all.” Was the response that Tavros gave Gamzee, before the other was shooshing him and pressing a series of paps against his cheeks. “Shoosh yourself down, motherfucker. Just be letting me get down to making a deal with our bro here.”

When Tavros didn’t look like he wanted to speak anymore, Gamzee was turning back to Equius, that small smile still spread across his lips. “Alright, pardon Tavbro there, he’s just getting all kinds of uncertainty that you’ll help a troll out here.”

As much as Equius wanted to outright confirm Tavros’s suspicions, he was having an internal battle. Even if he refused a brownblood like Tavros- his moirail was royalty. The highest land dwelling caste possible, and a subjuggulator no doubt hiding behind those lanky limbs and deceitful smile.

Instead Equius chose to remain silent for a moment, before nodding his head slowly. “Tavros is...indeed correct, that I am quite busy with my current projects.” he decided to note, before nearly needing to grab a towel from the way Gamzee’s smile steadily began to fall. Had he said too much? Exhibited too much free will?

He was just about to go back and apologize, before Gamzee was waving his hand with an albeit more forced smile on his face. “Well, shit, bro. Fighting robots is one thing, but can’t you help a motherfucker’s moirail out? He’s been cooped up in that chair for bitchtits forever, and you’re the last mother fuckin’ straw we’re betting on here.”

“Gamzee..it’s okay, he just doesn’t have time, is all. Let's go before we make him mad..” Tavros muttered, before blinking back surprise when Gamzee’s hand flew over to pap him right on the mouth. “Silence, brother. I’m not motherfuckin’ done yet with talkin’ to him.”

Gamzee took a moment to take a deep breath, before looking at Equius and sitting up a bit more, showing shocking signs of coherency that Equius was convinced had been eaten out of the highblood’s persona. Equius had heard rumors from Vriska that Tavros was slowly beginning to ween Gamzee off of sopor- but could such a pathetic troll really be enough to break a sopor addiction?

“Alright, listen, brotherfucker.” the troll began, before clearing his throat. “I’m thinkin’ you just ain’t getting your proper listen on here. I came to you because I know you can motherfuckin’ do this, and I’m out of options. So I’m gonna ask again. Can you mother fuckin’ scedule something with me here so you can get my moirail up and walking again?”

It was poised as a question, but Equius was no fool. It was a borderline command from his superior, one that had him swallowing down his nerves. “Would this be considered an order, highblood?” he asked, albeit with a shaky tone.

Tavros was looking nervously between the two castes, ones that typically would be using his level of bloodcolor as a god damn commonplace worker. A subjuggulator, one that would have had to cull him for his deficiency, was fighting with a powerful blueblood over building him a pair of legs.

The poor troll almost had to sigh in relief when Gamzee was finally nodding his head, sitting up completely and staring at Equius in a way that commanded authority. He had been worried that Gamzee would either buckle...or perhaps lose his temper and attempt to attack Equius.

While Gamzee had given Tavros lessons on how to muster his confidence- he was glad to see that his pleas had gotten through to Gamzee was well. He was refusing to let himself get insulted or walked over just because he was under sopor’s influence, and was controlling his temper just fine without it.

“If it’s what will get you to motherfuckin’ help my best bro,then yes, I command you to make my moirail a pair of legs.” Gamzee said, before glancing over to Tavros and dropping the hard edge of his expression into a soft smile. It was almost like he was asking him if he did good, before the brownblood was nodding his head and reaching forward to scratch his fingers through Gamzee’s shaggy hair.

Equius, on the other hand, was finally beginning to perspire profusely at the knowledge that Gamzee was leaving no room for argue. A command was a command, and he would have to make this brownblood a pair of legs, no matter what. “...Y-Yes, Makara. I will begin progress on the legs right away.” He said, grateful for the fact that Aurthour had come around with a towel draped across his arm.

Equius accepted it from his custodian, before beginning to wipe himself off with it as Gamzee seemed pleased with his response. “Hell motherfuckin’ yes, I knew we could talk it out, bro.” Gamzee hummed, before rising up and sauntering his way back behind Tavros’s wheelchair.

“Just give me a mother fuckin’ buzz when you’ve got some progress done.” He said, before Equius was rising up a moment later, motioning for Gamzee to stop. “Wait! I-...I need to take measurements of the lowblood, before you go.” he said, hoping that it wasn’t out of place to ask.

“Oh, shit. Yeah sure, that makes mother fuckin’ sense.” he muttered, before soon Equius was turning to Aurthour and wiping his brow down again as he asked, “Aurthour, can you please go fetch me my measuring tape.”

“In the meantime...can you please remove the brownblood from his chair so I may get an accurate measurement of his full gait?”

It was almost a humorous sight, watching Gamzee move over to the front of Tavros. Their sizes were so vastly different that Gamzee had to bend his knees to properly hold up Tavros, letting the other’s legs dangle down so Equius could accept the measuring tape and begin to jot down measurements of his waist, his hips, the length of his thighs and calves, then his legs in total.

When that was done, Equius was pocketing the measurements into his shorts, nodding towards the duo. “I have what I need to make the legs. You, erm, may go now. Give me about three days, and I should have them ready.

“Thanks, motherfucker. I knew I could get my count on to you!” he said, slapping Equius on the back as he pushed Tavros towards the door. “I’ll see you motherfuckin’ again in three days!

Just as the two were about to round the corner, Equius caught sight of Tavros looking at him with a shy smile on his lips. His eyes were trained on the paraplegic as Gamzee pushed him, before catching Tavros waving at him as he was pushed out of the door. “Thank you again, Equius!”

The blueblood knew that he had a lot of work to do, now.

* * *

 

True to his word, Equius had worked tirelessly on the pair of legs that were made to Tavros’s exact measurements. It was certainly hard, given that the troll was so small even for his caste, but Equius managed to find wires and circuits that would fit the troll’s blood vessels.

These legs not only would be able to let him walk- but they would be an extension of his body as well. Waste would still have to exit his body, and genetic material would need to keep production lest he face being culled for something as simple as not filling a bucket.

Given that the muscles had died below his waist, he couldn’t just construct two separate legs and attach them to his hips. Instead he had an ingenious setup that would connect to his important functions and act as if it were an implant.

Yes, this has been no easy task, but he was relieved when he finally saw Tavros and Gamzee strolling up to his workroom on the third day. He had made sure that everything would go off without a hitch, a container of brown blood connected to the legs and circulating through the artificial veins.

“Yo, motherfucker. I got Tavbro here, and he hasn’t eaten in a day like you got your request on to.” Gamzee greeted, before pausing as he saw the setup that Gamzee had going on. IV’s, bags of brown blood hung up to them, and all sorts of surgery apparatuses hung up.

“Very good, highblood. All that is left is to place him upon the table and allow me to inject the concentrated sopor so he doesn’t feel a thing.” he said, before both Gamzee and Tavros were just gaping at the table. The lowblood’s typically grey face looked almost pale at the sight, before Gamzee was looking baffled to Equius.

“Brother, what’s up and going on with all of this shit?” he asked, before Equius seemed to be confused. “Why, it’s standard procedure. We need to replace Tavros’s legs with the robotic pair, and it wouldn’t do any good for him to potentially bleed out or feel the pain.”

Just the way that Equius said it so casually had Tavros slumping back into his chair, his eyes wide in fear as he looked from Gamzee, to Equius, then back to his moirail. “W-Wait, you’re...you’re going to chop off my legs?” He asked in a meek tone.

Equius placed down the oily towel he had onto the back of his work chair, a frown spread across his features. “Why would I be horsing around with you like this? They are useless, and must be removed. I figured that much could be inferred from the process.

Even Gamzee looked a bit hesitant, glancing from the new pair of legs towards Tavros, before he rested his hand on his moirail’s and gave it a gentle and insistent squeeze. “Shhh, Tav, it’s gonna be mother fuckin’ alright. You won’t be getting to feel a thing when Equius gets down to the dirty business, right motherfucker?” 

Gamzee was silently pleading for reassurance for not just Tavros, but himself too. He was putting his moirails life in Equius’s hands- if anything went wrong then Gamzee wouldn’t know how he would react. Tavros felt like the one thing keeping him sane most days.

“Of course. I have performed this procedure before, remember? He will not feel a thing, and will only wake up slightly sore and groggy. Now, can you please place him onto the table so I may get to work? The transplanting brown blood needs to be kept circulated in the artificial legs and bag before it goes stagnant.” He was working on a timer, now. Vriska made it quite clear that the blood was already a bit old from the brownblood she captured while Flarping, and he only had so much time to work with it. 

Tavros swallowed loudly, panic beginning to grip his chest as Gamzee nodded his head and walked to the front of the troll in order to lift him by his arms and dull legs. “It’s okay, Tavbro, I’m going to be right mother fuckin’ here when you wake up.” He said, stroking his moirail’s fluffy mohawk back as he pressed a lingering pale kiss onto the top of his head.

“O-Okay, I trust you, Gamee. Oh, and, uh, you too Equius.” he said, before turning his head to Equius and feeling his anxiety spike further at the sight of the needle. He closed his eyes tightly at the sting of the syringe, before suddenly everything was going fuzzy.

The last thing he heard was Gamzee asking him how long it would take, before all went dark for Tavros.

* * *

 

The next thing that Tavros knew, he felt sore almost all over. His head hurt, his mind was fuzzy, and he had an unpleasant taste in the back of his throat that no amount of swallowing could get rid of. His mouth was awfully dry, too.

 He tried to open his eyes, only to be met with close to darkness. At first he wondered if he actually even opened them at all, until a small light in the distance caught his attention. It was casting a slither of illumination into the room, and it was clear he was on a bed of some sorts.

He shifted slightly, before feeling his arm knocking against something very much alive. At first he felt anxiety at what he just hit- before noticing that it was the sleeping form of his exhausted moirail. As Tavros’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he also noted that there was another troll in the room, slumped over and tired against an armrest.

It was only when Tavros attempted to sit up did he realize that the other was still awake, perking up the moment that Tavros’s body actually...began to balance itself? He was sitting up, one leg bent as the other laid at his side, and his waist was moving on it’s own! He was actually sitting up, and the very notion had Tavros’s eyes wide open.

“Gamzee- I’m! I’m actually sitting without help! I got up!” He said, nudging his groggy and exhausted moirail, before his head was turning towards the other troll in a bright beam of a smile. “Equius is that you? I’m sitting up! I’m actually sitting!” he shouted, before the troll across the room switched on the lights.

Gamzee hissed at the way the brightness hurt his poorly adjusted eyes, Tavros having to squint as well, but there he was! He had shiny metals legs from the waist down, the mechanisms actually giving him feeling to them too! He could wiggle his foot, bend the knees, and-

He was crying. Tears were flowing down his cheeks before he could even think to stop them. He could trace the dents and plating of his legs, feel the ghostly sensation running up nerves he thought were long dead. He could even feel warmth coming up from them!

“Ah, thank goodness, I was worried that your body would reject the metal.” he muttered, before carefully stepping past the purpleblood at his side in order to carefully bend the knees and various joints on the feet. Whenever he would hear a grind or a creak, he would take a small wad of sand paper to run across the ball of the joint, before applying a generous amount of lube to help them slide smoothly.

Tavros could feel it, the strange scratching sensation, and the feeling of such cold hands rubbing up and down his legs. It caused a bit of color to rise to his cheeks at the way Equius was being so careful with his legs, so gentle. He had this look of concentration on his face, too, like he was engrossed in his work.

He had so much he wanted to say to the blueblood, to find the words to thank him for all that he’s done. But he was cut off by his moirail throwing his arms around his shoulders, pulling him into a tight hug while Equius continued to mess and tweak his legs a bit.

“Tav! Oh motherfuck- I never thought that day would end.” He said, chewing harshly on his lower lip as he tried to keep back the emotion. His paint was smeared with sleep and tears, and he looked to be a complete wreck as Tavros carefully scratched his fingers around the base of his horns.

“Gamzee- it’s okay! I’m okay, and look! I’ve got legs! I can WALK home with you!” He cheered, his smile brighter than Gamzee has ever seen it. He was grinning, before his face fell a bit, causing the highblood to reach forward and crade Tavros’s cheek as he wondered just how he would word this.

“Well- you see, bro. Equius needs to be making sure that your body ain’t about to be getting all confrontational with the metal. He also has to be sure they’re steady and stable, and won’t be getting to locking up or exploding on you.”

The words had Tavros’s mouth falling into a confused line, before outright frowning as realization hit him.”Oh...So, you’ll have to be, uh, going soon won’t you?” he asked, before Gamzee was nodding his head. “Just for a motherfuckin’ week, alright? I’ll be back before you know it, Tav! And then we can motherfuckin’ let you stretch your legs and wall home.”

He was trying to be optimistic, his lazy grin moreso to make Tavros feel better about the whole ordeal. “Okay?” he asked, and feeling a bit better when Tavros wiped his eyes and nodded. “Yeah, okay. I’ll see you in, just, a week. After your physical examination and stuff...”

Gamzee was nearing the age where he would need to begin training for his future. As the bloodline descendant to the Grandhighblood himself, he knew his moirail would have some big, big clown shoes to fill. It was a bit terrifying to know his roots, but Gamzee has never been anything besides gentle to him.

Of course, watching him get up and go was the hardest part. He was walking backwards out of the room the entire time, waving to his moirail, before finally having to shut the door behind him. When it was closed, Tavros let out a small sigh, instead looking down at the way that Equius was adding a few final adjustments onto his legs.

It occurred to him that he had a good chance to apologize now- his eyes widening a bit before he was offering the blueblood a small smile. “Oh! Uh, thank you again, Equius. I seriously am so happy, I, I may cry again!” he exclaimed, before gasping as suddenly his leg spasmed...and knocked one of Equius’s teeth right out.

“Oh- my god! Are you okay!?” he shouted, covering his mouth with two hands as the blueblood reared back with a pained hiss leaving him. It was a chipped tooth that flew right out onto the bed, the blood dribbling past his lips as he tried to rub the sore spot the foot connected with.

Equius was silent for a moment, before soon swallowing down some of the blood and trying to wipe it off of his lip using a towel nearby. “Yes- I. I may have accidentally tweaked with your motion reflexes instead of the joint of your kneecap.” he muttered, before placing the blue soaked towel down.

“It’s nothing for you to be concerned about, lowblood.” he said, before blinking back his surprise when Tavros was pulling out a bottle of water from his sylladex to hand towards the other troll. “Uhm- well, either way, this may help you to wash out a bit of the blood?” He suggested hesitantly, before Equius stared over the container.

He frowned, before looking back up to Tavros. “I am afraid that I do not know my own strength, Nitram. If I were to accept the bottle, no doubt I would crush it in my palm and make even more of a mess than I wish to.”

Tavros’s face fell a bit into a frown, looking almost sheepish and embarrassed. “Well...I could give you a sip, if you’d like?” he asked, although quietly. He didn’t want to mention something that could set Equius off. The last thing he wanted to do was be annoying.

But it seemed that his suggestion was being taken to heart, because Equius merely rose up with a nod. He was horribly parched from spending all of his time working on his legs, so he approached the brownblood and allowed him to place the bottle at his lips.

He wrapped his lips around the neck, before swallowing down the water. At first he was convinced it would only be a sip- but the moment the water touched his dry and bloody tongue, he was swallowing it down like he would a cold glass of milk.

Tavros even seemed surprised by this, tilting the bottle more and more, before pulling it back when Equius drank the last drop. He laughed a bit under his breath, before placing the empty bottle down on the table next to him. “Well, sheesh. Good thing I had that water on me.” he noted.

Equius wiped the extra water off of his mouth, before deciding to give Tavros a curt nod in return. “Yes, I have vastly overestimated just how long I would be able to go without a drink. That was much appreciated.” he confessed, but not outright thanking Tavros.

A moment of tense quiet passed, before Tavros was rubbing at the back of his neck. “So, uhm, is there anything that I’ll need to do while you’re doing these tests and stuff?” he inquired, watching the way that Equius was packing up his tools into a box.

“Yes, actually. But for now, I need to rest. Me and Makara have been up nearly the entire night and day working on your new legs- I have worked for longer, but I would greatly appreciate the chance to sleep. Besides, your body has been through a lot, and you should use this time to rest. ”

Tavros could understand that, even if he wasn’t exactly tired right now. He felt like he could run laps- and now he could, if he really wanted to! He wanted to get up and sing and dance, and possibly even run over to the ominously large hive next door to Equius’s and stomp right on Vriska’s stupid, dumb face! That would show her good!

But instead he was letting Equius pull the covers over him. “Please- refrain from moving the hips as much as possible. I have melded and fastened them to your flesh, but your body needs at least a few days to properly heal and connect to the legs.”

Ugh, that sounded really gross, actually. “Oh, yeah. Wouldn’t want my legs sliding off, or something.” He muttered, his cheeks flushed in embarrassment. “That wouldn’t be very fun at all.”

“No, and it would be even less for me, as I would have to attempt to reconnect the legs before the nerve endings die and bleed out. So I would remain as still as possible, to avoid such an occurrence.” he grumbled, rising up and looking Tavros over.

“I know the flat soft surface you are lying upon may not contain sopor, but I shall allow you to ingest a small amount, as to avoid your thrashing about in the middle of the night due to horrorterrors.” Equius said, before pulling out a small vial and handing it to Tavros.

“And before you feel concerned you may build an addiction towards the substance like your moirail has, a small dose as this should not hold any long term...side effects.” The explanation certainly made Tavros feel just a bit better, enough to uncork the vial and take a swig of the sticky green fluid

His nose scrunched up at the taste, before instantly feeling that little hint of drowsiness begin to settle in his core. Before he even really knew what to do, he was once again drifting off into a comfortable doze. It was like he was in a cocoon, but a lot less messy.

When Equius knew that Tavros would be alright, he let out a small sigh, before rising up from his seat and deciding that he should be safe alone. He needed so desperately to go into the albulation trap and wash off his perspiration and the brown blood still staining his skin, anyways.

* * *

 

The next few days were, admittedly, more of a chore than Equius wanted to admit. He would have to ask Aurthour to prepare two meals in the afternoon, and bring one of them to Tavros. He had practically devoured the food, on account of the troll being two days without anything in his stomach from the surgery.

 After that, it appeared as if Lowbloods needed more sustenance than a highblood commonly did. While Equius could get away with two meals a night, Tavros was consistently hungry for three big meals during the night, and a few snacks in between. He had to check in on the lowblood nearly every other hour to be sure he hadn’t any need to use the facilities, or that he needed to report any abnormalities with his legs.

However, after the second day of being bedridden, Tavros finally stopped Equius from leaving before the troll could step out of the room. “Wait! Uh..Do you play fiduspawn?” he asked, causing the blueblood to turn around, giving the brownblood a questionable stare. “Fiduspawn?” he mirrored back.

“Yeah, fiduspawn!” Before Equius could say otherwise, Tavros was already withdrawing the card deck and a few Oogonibombs from his sylladex, offering Equius the items to look over. Of course when the blueblood only gave Tavros another questioning stare, Tavros’s smile faltered a bit.

“Uhm. Let me explain. It’s a game where you hatch and summon monsters to, uh, breed, and challenge other monsters!” he said, before deciding to demonstrate again. He was just about to throw an Oogonibomb at the host plush, before Equius was holding up his hand.

“I know what the game is, lowblood, and I believe it is extremely unbefitting of any royal blood above yellow to play. It is for tactless wrigglers, and I will not have any of this horsery in my hive.” He said firmly, before Tavros’s face slowly began to fall, before he was outright looking defeated.

“Oh...I just thought it, uh, could be a fun game to play to pass the time.” he said, resting his hands onto his lap and not saying much more after that. Despite how Equius should feel good for putting such a trashblood into his place- it...felt wrong. Not nearly as satisfying as the action should have been for a member of his caste.

He actually felt a little bad for making the other so upset. Equius was stewing in uncertainty, before letting out a loud sigh. “You are bored, aren’t you.” he noted, more than asked. He already knew the answer, but didn’t really come to expect the sheepish way that Tavros averted his gaze to nod his head.

“As nice as you’ve been, and all of that stuff, uhm. I really am feeling a bit bored, just sitting in here by my lonesome. Gamzee typically always played with me back at my hive, and messaging him isn’t, uhm, the same?” he questioned, before letting out a small sigh and waving his hand slightly. “But no it’s okay, I was just wondering if you liked games! I didn’t mean to, well...offend you. I’m sorry.”

This was almost...pitiful. Equius was frozen in place as the thought entered his head. Pity? For a Brownblood? Just because he had been a paraplegic for so long because of playing a game only the fiercest of females should play- it shouldn’t mean that the troll deserved pity. He made those choices and would have been fine had he adhered to his blood caste and biological role.

He especially didn’t deserve to have a pair of legs for his actions, even if in getting the ability to walk back, he had lit up and offered Equius the brightest, most pathetically happy smile imaginable. He had only done so because his moirail commanded him to construct him legs!

No troll like that deserved even an ounce of pity, even if the only good thing that he had going for himself was the highest land blood caste being in his quadrants, even if he would have been culled without Gamzee’s influence. No, Tavros Nitram didn’t deserve an ounce of pity, so why was Equius’s expanding and collapsing vascular system clenching so hard at the thought of Tavros feeling so upset?

“Fine. Show me just what this fiduspawn is all about.”

* * *

 

It had been a rocky rest of the week, with even more challenges being faced by Tavros’s legs. Everything had been running smoothly, up until the end of the week, when at one point the signals from his brain got stuttered in a few frayed wires, so Equius had to lay Tavros down once again and attempt to apply padding to the inside systems so that no outward force could knock about the connections and wires.

 It was surprisingly similar to working on his battle robots- only his battle robots didn’t blabber on to him about trivial, pointless things. “And so, I told the troll that he had the WORST fiduspawns, and he wouldn’t even come close to matching the combined strength of our bred monster!” he enthused, messing around on his mobile internet hub.

 “Yes, SagiHORSEious is certainly a magnificent beast.” he absently agreed, at this point just continuing to work and responding to Tavros with the bare minimum of responses. He needed to focus- one wrong connection and the entire legs could overload. That could spell disastrously for both of them, and potentially even Vriska next door.

 “And then he tried to say to me his stupid mewleenrina was tougher! It was a hatched monster, no matter how rare, and- ugh! Isn’t that so frustrating?”

 “Yes, Nitram. Very.”

 “And then he tried to bring my lusus into this! I told him that Tinkerbull could kick his ass- and, he’s a fairy! Hah, I really got him good there.”

 “Yes, of course.”

 “So then he tried to tell me-”

 “Tavros.” Equius cut off the troll before he could attempt to begin another tangent, narrowing his eyes a bit at him. “Will you please, kindly, allow me to focus. You are distracting me.”

 At that Tavros nodded his head, pulling his lower lip into his mouth and idly chewing on it as he watched Equius work instead. He was adjusting the area on Tavros’s hips, those big hands careful not to touch his actual skin. He left some pretty bad bruises if he really wasn’t careful!

 But finally Equius was placing the panel to his main controls back over his hip, screwing it back in firmly. “Alright. This should have fixed the problem.” He noted, before looking back at the clock. Right in time, too. The highblood would be here any moment now.

 “Oh, man. Thank you so much again, Equius. Uhm...” He said, before suddenly looking a bit hesitant, brown steadily starting to flush up into his cheeks. It looked like there was something more he wanted to say, so the blueblood leaned against his work table and merely raised an inquisitive brow at the other.

 When Tavros noticed the way Equius seemed to be waiting on him, the action only made him even more nervous. He was twiddling with his fingers, trying to muster up the courage of Rufio in order to say what was on his mind.

 “Well, you’ve just...been so helpful and nice to me. I’m not used to someone, besides Gamzee, actually doing this kind of stuff. I thought I would be stuck in that wheelchair for, well, ever! But then you came around and..I just.”

 He tried to slide off of the table after that, “I really just want to say that- woah!” He gasped out as his legs seemed to buckle, the weight distribution having been adjusted when Equius was meddling around with his circuitry.

He was about to hit the floor, when suddenly a strong pair of arms were wrapping around his waist and pulling him upwards. He was letting out an undignified squeak, before his hands were shooting forward and grabbing onto Equius’s tank top when the troll carefully pulled him back up onto his feet.

Tavros was still unsteady, the legs wobbling in accommodation to the new softer padding on them, before Tavros realized just how close he was pressed against Equius. He could tilt his chin up and stare up at the other, see the little details on his face. There were a few faded bruises, small scars and imperfections littering his face.

But...they were still nothing compared to just how nice his face actually was, how strong and sharp his jawline is. The words were stuck in Tavros’s throat as he just stared up breathlessly at the troll, his fingers clenching tighter into his tank top as it felt like his world was imploding around him. “I..”

He didn’t know what to say- and by the look on his face, Equius didn’t either. He had never really held a lowblood in his arms before, never noticed how warm they could be. It was like he had a small heater pressed against his chest, the troll so delicate in his arms that he worried he could break him with too sudden of a movement.

So he didn’t move, just stared down at the way Tavros was flushed from the bright of his nose to the tips of his ears. Everything about him was pitiful. From the way he needed electronic legs, to the way he could barely use them, to the way that without his help this troll would have been culled.

He was the reason Tavros would live till the next season, the reason the troll had so much pathetic hope in his eyes towards the pitifully short span of his life. With all of these emotions clogging his thinkpan, he didn’t even notice that Tavros was raising up onto his toes, using Equius’s shoulder almost like a hold in order to balance.

If his arm tightened around the lowblood’s waist, he didn’t notice, just watching the way that the other moved closer and closer towards him. Tavros was parting his lips, those big brown eyes nearly captivating, before Equius was closing the distance before he could even think otherwise.

The kiss was no doubt flush, a gentle and insisting press of lip on lip, before Tavros was pulling back with his smile spreading from ear to ear. “You, uh, work too much, you know.” he noted, catching Equius’s attention in the way that the other was taking on a playful tone.

“What do you mean, lowblood? I engross myself in my work because it is vital that I continue training in preparation for my duties as a-” he was cut off by Tavros’s lips again, the thoughts scrambling in his brain until all he could think to do was push back.

He was so warm, the pitiful rush traveling through his body as Tavros was reaching his hands forward to wrap around his neck. The kiss was only deepened for a moment, before Equius was the one to break it off this time.

“You just work so much, sometimes I think, you forget what it’s like to have fun? I think that’s why I pity you.” he explained, Equius’s eyes widening behind his cracked glasses. Before he got a chance to even ask Tavros the questions buzzing in his mind- the sound of a door opening was catching both of the troll’s attention.

“Hey, motherfuckers! What’s up and happening? I’m here to get Tavbro- Woooaah.” Gamzee had burst in with about all of the cheerfulness of a runaway clown locomotive, all smiles and grins, until he noticed his moirail curled up in Equius’s arms.

It seemed both of them were frozen in place, before Tavros was quickly looking back to Equius and rising onto his tiptoes to press a lingering kiss against his lips. “Uhm...I’ll message you!” he said, before turning away and sliding out of Equius’s grip to grab his awestruck moirail by his hand.

“Come on, Gamzee! I’ll race you back to your hive!” he said, before dragging Gamzee along down the hall, straight out of Equius’s hive. 

Equius stood there, absolutely baffled by what had just happened. He could still taste Tavros on his tongue, feel the lingering warmth of the other against his body.

  
He needed a towel.


End file.
